Savory Cake Recipes

Making savory muffins is one of the easiest fancy, light accompaniments you could prepare. The batter can even be prepared in advance. This time around, I flavored the muffins with mild stilton cheese, dried mango and fresh ginger.

I prepared a full platter of mini muffins and served them with a salad of mixed greens and another platter of rolled smoked salmon (cold sliced meat would work fine as well), crème fraîche and slices of lemons. The weather is getting warmer, so a light lunch along with sweet treats and fresh cold drinks was really satisfying.

This morning, I prepared a batch of savory cake batter. I flavored it with fresh herbs from the garden, goat cheese, cream cheese, garlic and shiitake mushrooms. I baked them later in the day and had already prepared a garlic herb goat cheese spread to go along with the savory treats. It was "un délicieux en-cas", which literally means in French a "delicious in case of [I get hungry]"!

Cheddar cheese muffins are one easy appetizer. I followed a usual cake batter recipe but instead of making it sweet, I flavored it with both jalapeño Cheddar cheese and smoked cheddar cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and chopped walnuts. As a reminder of the flavors, I topped each muffin with sun-dried tomato pesto.

Savory cakes ("le cake salé" in French) are the perfect dish if you want to serve a light, enjoyable lunch. Cake salé, as the name implies, is just a savory adaptation of a sweet cake. Sugar, chocolate and fruits are replaced with cold meats/ or fish (I used smoked salmon), olives and strong cheeses. For a nice contrast in texture, I added walnuts. Instead of baking the cake in a standard loaf pan, I used individual mini molds. So cute!

This cake is also ideal for picnics and potlucks, as it meets all the requirements for safe transport. No need to re-heat! I recently served cake salé with a candied walnut salad and finished the meal with a fruit medley. It was a flavorful meal that no one felt guilty about afterwards!